A Little Privacy Please?!?

A beautiful sunset across the horizon of an exotic beach, a small paper umbrella laying off to the side of a cold glass beaded with droplets of water. Seeing this, you probably would be enjoying your vacation in one of the many islands in the Caribbean. It is true that peaceful and relaxing resorts are a staple of the area but behind the scenes of those tropical landscapes, the poor inhabitants of the islands are not enjoying their homes as the tourist do.

The UNDP is working in Trinidad and Tobago in their Community Outreach and Response Initiative (CORe) setting up a Social Development Small Grants Program. One of the aspects of this program is to work on building and diversifying the private sector by supporting small business development, training that develops skills to be used to earn an income, enhancement of literacy & numeric skills, and healthy family functioning (parenting, gender relations, care of the elderly, dysfunctional families, life skills development, early childhood care). Through this program, Trinidad and Tobago should get a little more privacy, a private sector that is!

For more information on the SDSG Program, click here.

The UN Embraces the Digital Age: Text Messaging for Change

The UN embraces the Digital Age: Text Messaging for Change

Pop!Tech, the global technology conference, was held last week, unveiling new projects designed to effect global change through technology. This conference displayed ways in which technology developed in countries of abundance could be used to ease the burdens in countries of scarce resources. One of these innovations is as simple as making text messaging more accessible to organizations working in developing countries. Ken Banks demonstrated FrontlineSMS, free software designed to harness the power of text messaging. Humanitarian groups and NGO’s can download this free software and use it to send information to people working in the field, so necessary information is never far away. The UN is using this technology to send security alerts in Afghanistan, while MercyCorps is using this software to send market prices to farmers and power a healthcare network in Malawi.

Looking at aid on google

Google and many UN humanitarian aid agencies have now teamed up so that you can use Google Earth to look up the locations of aid distribution around the world. The UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) has now posted maps that show the refugee camps located in primarily Darfur, Iraq and Colombia.

This partnership is a tool to show Americans and the world the actual work that the United Nations is performing. It brings the work of humanitarian aid home.

This project is a continuance of a number of programs, in partnership with Google, that operate as tools to connect developed countries with the stories of people in developing countries and with the work that international organizations are performing. Such other projects include UNICEF's initiative to share children's stories on www.ourstories.org, a website where children from developing countries can record their journey and share it with the world.

To learn more about this:

Read the original news article:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24966&Cr=child&Cr1=

Big Supermarkets Shop Locally to Reduce Poverty

Thanks to the International Fund for Agricultrual Development, shoppers in Mozambique can now purchase local produce in Shoprite, the largest suppermarket chain in Mozambique.

As people around the world are starting to be more concerned with the carbon footprint of their food, eating locally produced food is becoming more important to consumers. This is a boon to small scale farmers in Mozambique who are getting back on their feet after years of conflict with the help of the United Naitons.

Click here to read more!

Learn something, feed people

You enrich your vocabulary while putting rice on a hungry person's table somewhere in the world. That is the basic plan Free Rice, the vocabulary game that is sweeping through the halls of DC think tanks and high school writting classes.

It is much easier for you to play it than read about it... so click here and spend 3 minutes. You will get addicted or feel inferior, either way you will earn some rice for hungry folks and learn something about the English language.

Ok, you are still reading and want to know how it works? Well, basically there is an ad banner on the site and the advertisers pay for the rice that you win in the game. The rice goes to the United Nations World Food Program for distribution to those who need it most.

What a good idea!

Understanding through Dialogue

On October 4, 2007, the UN General Assembly convened its first-ever high-level dialogue on interreligious and intercultural understanding. Srgjan Kerim, president of the General Assembly, told participants, “We are reaffirming the values enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But more importantly, we are taking concrete steps to advance these values around the world.”

He stressed the importance of opening dialogue and using all forms of media to encourage awareness. He noted that governments can help by adopting educational curricula that promotes peace and tolerance, while maintaining that the private sector, civil society, faith groups, and NGOs are also crucial.

Ban Ki-moon also spoke at the event, saying, “It is time to explain that different religions, belief systems and cultural backgrounds are essential to the richness of the human experience.” He emphasized that our differences should be seen as enriching, and not threatening.

Toward that end of the event, Mr. Kerim welcomed an informal talk aimed at fostering an exchange of views among Member States and civil society and the private sector. Leading academics, religious leaders, and civil society representatives will take part in this discussion.

As Jews mark the celebration of the Torah and Muslims approach the end of the holy month of Ramadan, the timing couldn’t be better.

Don't Underestimate the Poor

The problem? 2.7 billion people live on less than $2 per day. A potential solution? Harness their potential as workers and entrepreneurs by utilizing them in the private sector.

UNDP is leading Growing Inclusive Markets, an initiative seeking exactly to explore this intersection between the pursuit of profit and and inclusive economic growth. By connecting with business communities, development workers can tap into a vastly under-utilized resource and learn how to engage impoverished populations as drivers of economic growth. In this way, those in direst need can lift themselves out of poverty - permanently.

Click here to find out how the GIM report plans to make business work for development and development work for business.

Creating Corporate Responsibility

Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe has experienced economic growing pains. With the transition from state-controlled economies to market-centered ones, business has been in overdrive. In the push for profits, the fast growth of the private sector in this region has left behind and further marginalized some societal groups. That's where institutions and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) come into play.

UNDP firmly believes that CSR can foster social cohesion, and has therefore decided to fund a project to study and support companies that integrate social and environmental concerns into their business operations.

An important recommendation is that there needs to be greater cooperation between the government, civil society and businesses in order to ensure the future success of CSR. The project aims to advance the implementation of CSR practices in Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Slovak Republic and Turkey.

UNDP often provides services to countries at a higher policy level, putting in place trickle-down mechanisms to ensure that reforms reach the groups most in need of social or economic change.

Business and the MDGs

Ted Turner - the founder of CNN and the UN Foundation - has a nice op-ed in his hometown Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the MDGs.

In addition to calling on fellow business leaders to embrace the goals, he notes that

the attainability of the MDGs requires entrepreneurial ingenuity and a business skill-set. It takes smart entrepreneurs and trained managers to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, raise people out of poverty, supply HIV/AIDs patients with treatments and more.

Supporting the private sector in creating innovative solutions and jobs is an important part of development. UNDP has long recognized the importance of private sector development in achieving the goals through their ground breaking Unleashing Entrepreneurship report and programs like the Growing Sustainable Business initiative, which facilitate business-led solutions to poverty and the MDGs.

When you boil these global challenges down to their essence, what is at stake in the long-term if we fail in this effort — our livelihood and life's work, our global security, the welfare of our very children — is far greater than the risk of not getting involved.

For ideas on what you can do, check out here or here.

Aveda Supporting Indigenous Entrepreneurs

Aveda , the makeup and skin care company, announced today a new partnership with the UNDP Equator Initiative to support environmentally sustainable entrepreneurship by Indigenous groups around the world.

Leading by example, Aveda's strategic business development puts environmental leadership and responsibility at the forefront. "A Dialogue for the Future" will highlight Aveda's sustainable business partnerships with the Yawanawa tribe in Brazil, and Australia's Indigenous Communities of aboriginal peoples of Kuktabubba from whom the Company sources uruku and sandalwood, respectively. A series of events on May 22nd and 23rd presents an opportunity for business leaders to embrace indigenous wisdom inspiring new ideas and support for conducting business in a socially and environmentally conscious manner.

Aveda is a really interesting company that has embraced an environmental sustainability policy because they

also believe that profit and environmental responsibility will increasingly work together as more industries find out that "nature works" for both sustainability and the bottom-line.

Capitalizing on Africa's Beauty

The Washington Post has an interesting article today on the booming tourism industry in African countries like Tanzania.

Depending on what the situation requires, Fay Amon can say "Hello" in French, "Thank you" in Dutch and "Welcome to Arusha!" in German. He can say "How are you?" in Italian, "I have nothing" in Spanish and "Where are you from?" in Japanese.

One challenge in promoting the safari industry is ensuring that it is environmentally sustainable. Through its Equator Initiative - which promotes sustainable development in tropical countries - UNDP has launched Equator Ventures,

an innovative development and investment initiative capitalized by grants and loans from resources in the public and private sector. Its mission is to provide a “blended” offer of debt finance and enterprise development support to viable small and medium sized biodiversity businesses.

Because developing countries often lack a strong banking system and other capital sources to turn good business ideas into good businesses, Equator Ventures acts as a venture capital fund for innovative businesses like WildLife Adventures that have created jobs for thousands of people around the world. Learn more.

Making Work Fun

Providing clean water has become a major focus of the UN development agencies work in recent years. A shortage of clean and accessible water impacts many other aspects of development - from spreading diseases that take the lives of millions of children and rob the poorest of their strength and work day, to causing crops to whither and exacerbating hunger in rural communities, to forcing children in many places to spend much of their day hiking miles to the nearest well rather than learning to read.

The play pump is

A life-changing and life-saving invention that can provide easy access to clean drinking water, bring joy to children, and lead to improvements in health, education, gender equality, and economic development. The PlayPump systems are innovative, sustainable, patented water pumps powered by children at play. Installed near schools, the PlayPump system doubles as a water pump and a merry-go-round for children.

The company that developed it has also put in place an innovative public-private business model that teams the goal of making a profit with making a difference in the lives of people.

In the UK, people have been working with UNICEF to raise funds to support the installation of these in communities in Africa. Check out this video to see the difference they are making

Launch in external player

Operation Enterprise Mongolia

Small businesses and entrepreneurs are the backbone of any economy, providing the jobs and innovation necessary for sustained growth. Located in the barren plains between China and Russia, 75% of its citizens are subsistence farmers who live on less than $2 a day. To help promote growth and create opportunities for Mongolians, UNDP is starting up a program to support entrepreneurs in Mongolia.

Operation Enterprise Mongolia promotes business growth in three ways. First is to give access to knowledge and skills for being a successful enterprise giving more small businesses the ability to grow and employ more people. The second way UNDP is assisting micro economic growth is by increasing access to financial information and making business transactions more transparent. The last part is to promote business growth is to create a level playing field for businesses to compete at. This project gives locals the ability to empower themselves and the help the community by giving people jobs.

To learn more, visit them online.